The invention relates to tools employed to remove an integrated circuit package, such as a pin grid array package, from a socket mounted upon a printed circuit board (PCB).
The prior art teaches the use of tools which apply leverage to an integrated circuit package in order to pry it from its conjugate socket. The tool is wedged between the adjoining surfaces of the package and socket, and leverage is applied until the package and socket are completely separated. However, it is extremely difficult to isolate all of the force thus applied solely in the direction collinear with the pins on the package. Hence, the pins are likely to be bent to one side during removal by the force components in the plane normal thereto. The pins are structurally delicate and typically cannot withstand the bending required to return the pins to their original configuration. The breakage of the pins is thus likely to occur during straightening, thereby rendering the package unusable. Moreover, the forces exerted upon the package and socket during removal may be transmitted to the solder joints whereby the socket is attached to the PCB. The application of such prying force may thus create cracks in the solder joints or, perhaps, even physical separation between the socket and the PCB. This is of special concern where surface mounting techniques are employed, due to the frangibility of such connections.
It is to be noted that the aforementioned difficulties are exacerbated with a pin grid array package where perhaps hundreds of pins are placed in several nested peripheral rows about the underside of the package. Unlike the familiar dual-in-line package (DIP), there is no portion in the periphery of a pin grid array package lacking pins wherein a conventional tool may be inserted. Hence, there is the additional likelihood of damage resulting from the direct physical contact between the tool and the pins of the package. Moreover, the high number of pins additionally increases the amount of force required to separate the package from its conjugate socket, thereby increasing the likelihood of damage to the solder joints whereby the socket is connected to the PCB.